Gone meet GAang: Life in the FAYZ, not Fire Nation
by Dante Chris
Summary: Little Pete has a new trick; taking people from another universe, and putting them in his. Toph gets possessed by the Darkness, Aang is stranded on an island with Caine, and Little Pete, well, he's still screaming.
1. Toph's big poof

What would happen if the gAang (and a couple villains) were in the FAYZ? Would Aang and Sam get along, would Katara berate Lana for her vodka and cigarettes? One way to find out…

So, welcome to the fanfic. It's been literally years since I've written one, but after reading the third installment of the book "Lies" in the Gone series, I've been inspired, and so have come up with a viable crossover. Thus far, at any rate, it is viable. I may throw in some older charries (namely Sokka and Suki) later on, but let's start at the start, shall we? Oh, and if I've typoed, please point it out. I can be really bad, even after proofreading. And review, if you please. You dun have to, but if you have any ideas, go ahead.

GONE : Little Pete's anomaly.

SPOILER NOTE: This takes place AFTER the end of Avatar: The last Airbender and AFTER Lies; so if you don't want possible spoilers, don't read.

CHAPTER ONE.

When was life in Perdido Beach ever normal? The FAYZ was always in some sort of turmoil, Sam mused as he got himself, Astrid, and Little Pete some fish from the stall. The water supply was dwindling, gasoline was dwindling, some kids had crashed a helicopter and now there were more mouths to feed. Sam was up to his neck in questions, and the daycare was floundering without Mary to guide it. Brother John was doing all he could, but there was only so much help to go around. Lana had retreated even further into her shell…though speaking of retreating into a shell…

"Walkie, walkie." Astrid coaxed little Pete along. One step. "Walkie, walkie." One more. After the destruction of his gameboy, he'd barely done anything but eat. Astrid gave up again like she'd been doing all afternoon and picked her five year old brother up. Little Pete. Unintentional creator of the FAYZ, remover of all those over 15. The eight-bar kid that no one knew was eight bars. The one that was totally helpless, but knew more about this world than anyone else. Little Pete.

"That's two 'Bertos." The boy at the stand reminded Sam. Sam handed the currency over. He took the fish, neither of which looked appealing, and walked back to Astrid.

"Come on…we better get back." Sam saw little Pete flap his hands frantically. "Before he has a meltdown."

"I second that." Astrid agreed. "He's been like this all day, Sam…I don't understand what he wants!"

"Don't ask me." Sam sighed. Back through the burned out and graffittied town, back to a house that belonged to God-only-knew who before the FAYZ began, now known as Astrid's house. "His game?"

"We know he wants his game, but he can't get it! I've dug around, I managed to trade a tomato Sinder gave me for a game boy, but he won't take it." Astrid walked through her house and to the backyard, where she'd cook the fish. "Do you think it's the Gaiaphanage again?"

"Considering all he's done is fight it, I guess that could be it." Sam didn't want to think about that monster.

"Well…if it is.." Astrid looked over at Little Pete somewhat sadly. "All we can do is pray."

"And cook." Sam reminded her.

"And cook." Astrid nodded, and the trio fell into silence. Cook and pray, day by day. Such was the life of most of the kids around here. Such was her life, now that she'd stepped down. But the FAYZ didn't allow for monotony, as they were just about to figure out.

"Astrid-" That was all she heard from Sam before little Pete began to scream and flail.

* * *

Life had been pretty good, now that she was a war hero. True, her parents had disowned her and she was on her own at the tender age of twelve, but what the hell. Life was life. The Blind Bandit knew about adapting, knew about living, and knew about fighting. "HURRY IT UP, TWINKLETOES!" Toph shouted for her perch on a rock. "AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO KNOW HOW TO EARTHBEND?" Aang still had stuff to learn, and Toph would teach it, in the time they had between peacemaking, Aang being trained by Zuko, and everyone else.

"I'm trying, I'm trying!" Aang shouted. "It's not like you gave me instructions!"

"You're the Avatar, aren't you? You can get it, twinkletoes. All Aang had to do was earthbend vertical "landings" from the cliff to get to the top. It wasn't that hard, in her opinion. I can see what you're doing and you're not doing it quite right…watch!" Toph thrust her hands out and heard the rumble as earth moved. "See, easy." She then did the same motion in reverse, pulling it back in. "Don't move your arms so freely, you're not airbending, you're earthbending. You've got to order the earth to do what you want."

"SNEAK ATTACK!" Sokka launched himself out of a nearby bush, intent on getting Toph eventually. Toph was about to step out of the way…then Sokka landed face first on the ground. He looked around, realized what just happened and screamed. The scream was terrified to the point where Aang forgot about his drill and simply used airbending to get up. "SHE WAS JUST HERE!" He flapped around in the dust, as though Toph was going to reappear. "There was some blue light for a second and then…then…poof! GONE! SHE JUST POOFED, AANG, AND THAT'S NOT WHAT EARTHBENDERS DO!"

"Maybe she just picked up a magic trick from Iroh?" Aang suggested, but that didn't seem likely. Toph's unique means of vision meant she saw through every illusion. Why she would bother with a magic trick she couldn't learn and couldn't see to annoy Sokka didn't make sense. "Toph?"

"There was no sound of earthbending, NOTHING! SHE'S GONE!" Sokka was in full panic mode, and Aang didn't understand.

"Okay…well, maybe she just did some trick…" Aang repeated himself. "Let's look around for her before we tell the others, all right?"

* * *

Dekka had just gotten over that cough. She was weak but not impossibly so, and had full intentions of fulfilling her duties as a council member, recently sick of not. Still, everyone needed to eat. Dekka sat in the living room of her commandeered house, with an artichoke. It wasn't great, but it was better than the fish she'd seen for sale. She'd spotted Sam buying them and she wondering if he was being stupidly brave or if Asrtid could hold her own in Hell's Kitchen. If Hell's Kitchen existed anymore. She'd never liked that show, but normality would be nice…or would it? It might just be out of place in Perdido nowadays.

She'd have taken Hell's Kitchen over what happened next.

Blue lights came from behind the dusty LCD TV she sat across from. "Ask and you shall receive?" Dekka asked, raising an eyebrow. She stood up and readied herself for what came next, but nothing could have prepared her for that. A girl fell from the ceiling, or really, came from nowhere. A girl in green that looked a bit dusty and scruffy, a bit younger than her.

"Sokka, that is pathetic! Shouting 'sneak attack' while attacking someone is dumb! I thought-" There was a pause as Toph got oriented. She was somewhere very strange, behind a thin rectangle; and then she couldn't see anything, she was in the air. "AANG, PUT ME DOWN, RIGHT NOW!" But this wasn't airbending, she realized after a moment. There was no wind. "Who's there?" Her words were strong, but she was suddenly very confused. Just as suddenly, she was dropped to the ground.

"Who the hell are you?" Dekka looked down at the girl as she picked herself up.

"I'm Toph, who the hell are you?" Toph countered, looking around. This place was unlike any place in the fire nation, or for that matter, the world. "Where am I?"

"I'm Dekka." Dekka replied warily. "You're in the FAYZ, or have you not got the memo?"

"What's the fayyez?" Toph asked. "I can't read, anyways, and I was just teaching the avatar earthbending, in the fire nation, and now I'm in this…house. "

"You're in my house, and I don't know what the fire nation is. One second I'm eating an artichoke, and the next second some girl has fallen out from nowhere, talking about Avatars and earthbending and fire nations. And it's the FAYZ…" Dekka frowned. Has this girl entered somehow? "It's actually a town called Perdido Beach, and a power plant. Everything within a twenty mile of that power plant has been isolated from the world. No way in or out, there's this wall in the way, and everyone over fifteen just…vanished…" How could this kid have gotten in? "And now you're in it."

"Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight…I think Sokka just socked me one too hard over the head." But Toph doubted it. This was all too real. "But you're not lying. I can feel it."

"Look, I'm going to take you to a guy called Sam. He'll know what I'm supposed to do with you, or what we tell the rest of the town council. You've got to trust me, and if you can feel I'm not lying, you've got to trust me more. If you're a freak, you could be in danger…more danger…than you already are."

"So now you call me a freak?" Toph retorted angrily.

"If you have any powers, you're a freak. I removed gravity, I'm a freak, too!" Dekka grumbled. She liked the girl's spirit, but her obvious confusion was an irritant. "How do you think you just went floating? No Aang did that."

"So there's no bald air nomad hanging around?" Toph didn't assume there to be a Sokka, he was sixteen, after all.

"Uh…no." Dekka didn't even want to ask what this dark-haired, strange little girl was talking about. "Anyways, you ought to come with me, but you're going to need a change of clothes, or you'll attract way too much attention…Brianna or Taylor are about your size…Stay here, Toph." Dekka darted out of her home. How was she going to explain this to either girl? She was bigger than either of them, they couldn't possibly be for her. And it would be just awkward to ask Brianna for her clothes…thankfully, she ran into Taylor first…she gave Dekka a funny look, but Dekka wasn't the sort of do things for no reason. Taylor had scrounged up some clothes from earlier in the FAYZ, and gave Dekka a pair of jeans and a green t-shirt. They were big for her but would be a touch small for Brianna, so they should fit the newcomer rather well. She ran back and found Toph sitting on the sofa, waiting. "Here, put these on." She directed Toph to the bathroom. "And from now until we get to Astrid's house, you've been in the FAYZ this whole time, if you're asked."

"I thought we were going to this guy, Sam?" Toph asked from the bathroom.

"We are; he lives with Astrid and her little brother, Little Pete. Don't upset him…I think he had a hand in this…"

End of chapter one; don't worry, things will get more exciting in the second one…


	2. Blind Bandit vs Human Crew

Enter chapter two.

Life in the FAYZ was typically weird, but little girls appearing in Dekka's living room with strange clothes, with no idea what was going on was a stretching it. Toph, she called herself. She'd have to bring this kid to Sam, and that was exactly what she was going to do, until Taylor bounced into the living room.

"Oh." Taylor looked at Toph. "That's why you needed my clothes…?"

"I can't wear those, apparently." Toph was lounging on the sofa, and pointed to her normal clothes.

"Those look like a Halloween costume." Taylor giggled.

"What the-" Toph was going to ask what Halloween was, but Dekka guessed as much and cut her off.

"What's up, Taylor?"

"Zil's being a jerk again, he's limping around shouting for your blood." Taylor shrugged. "Sam and Edilio and some of his soldiers are heading over, they want you to come, too, but no attacking anyone just now, unless Zil shoots you." Taylor nodded matter of factly.

"Oh, great." Dekka rolled her eyes. "All right, I'm over there. Toph, stay put, all right?" She was out of the door a second later, as Toph crossed her arms.

"I've never seen you around here, before." Taylor didn't bounce away immediately. "And you're in my old clothes."

"They're itchy." Toph replied. "What did you wash these things in, or do you just have fleas?"

"Ha-ha." Taylor grumbled. "I washed them in the ocean water, just like everyone else."

"Well, that's stupid. Come on." She got up, off the sofa, with no intentions of obeying Dekka. "I wanna go see this fight."

"I'll meet you there." Taylor figured she might end up being of assistance, and bounced out. This left Toph confused, but then again, Dekka had levitated her, so why couldn't someone else disappear? The trouble was, she had no idea where this Zil guy would be.

"What does Zil want this time?" Dekka skidded to a halt beside Sam.

"Your blood." Sam replied. "Though we're going to try and talk sense into him. He's grabbed the girl, Jill, and gagged her." He pointed down the messy and graffited street, where Jill was tied to a light post. "They're offing a trade."

"So what do you want to do?" Dekka could go in there, but there was no saying she'd be able to fight them off and get Jill free.

"I don't know yet, I'm thinking." Sam groaned. "This is the last thing we need."

"I second that. Which remains me, I think someone poofed INTO the FAYZ. She's about twelve, ended up in my living room. No idea what's going on." Dekka informed him while Edilio snorted.

"Yeah, right, and Mary's gonna come back, too." He shook his head. "How about we get Dekka staring to walk forwards, and then Brianna rushes in, unties Jill-"

"They'd shoot her by then, or would have rigged wires." Dekka didn't want Brianna getting involved.

"We need to do something they'd never think of." Sam sighed. "Otherwise, we're going to be here until Zil," He looked down at the Human Crew leader waving his gun around, "gets trigger happy."

After some asking around, Toph did find her way to the sight of the showdown. She couldn't find Taylor but instead she stood behind a wall, standing on a surface that was not stone nor dirt. She could still see just fine, but it was so strange. Like someone had pureed rock. She worked out the situation on her own, a bunch of kids with sticks and a hostage. They wanted Dekka for the hostage, presumably to kill her. "HURRY IT UP, FREAKS!" Zil's voice carried from up the hill. "I'M GETTING ANNOYED!" No one seemed to have a clue as to what to do.

"There you are!" Taylor reappeared back into Toph's world. "I've been looking for you."

"How do you just end up out of nowhere? Do you hover?" Toph asked.

"I teleport myself…" Taylor would have thought that was obvious. "You know, disappear form somewhere, end up somewhere else?"

"Oh." Toph kinda understood. "Okay, well…no one knows what to do, do they?"

"Nope." The other girl shrugged.

"I have an idea, but it's between you and me, all right?" Toph grinned devilishly.

"Okay…are you sure?" Taylor bit down on her lip.

"Yeah, I've done this stuff before, back home, wars and stuff. Look, all I need you to do if teleport yourself down to the girl. Start untying her. If they decide to hit you with their sticks, teleport away, and keep doing that. Just distract them, but don't hurt yourself. I'll go in and scare them off, easy." Toph figured these kids hadn't seen real earthbending before.

"How are you going to do that?" Taylor asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Earthbending." Toph cracked her knuckles.

"Some freak power?" It was Taylor's turn to wonder.

"Yeah, whatever." Toph shrugged. "Just do it, you and me, all right?" Taylor nodded. If this kid got Dekka trusting her, then she supposed she could, too.

"What the…" Sam saw Taylor bounce right into the danger zone. "Who told her to do that?"

"Not me, dude." Edilios' eyes widned as Lance went for her, ready to shoot. Taylor bounced away, with Jill less tied by a single knot.

"BACK OFF, FREAKS!" Zil shouted, before the earth below him moved. A legde of earth shot up, knocking him onto his bottom. This time, the Human Crew weren't the only confused ones.

"Oh god." Dekka saw Toph walking down the street. "That's the girl I was going to tell you about. I think she got INTO the FAYZ from somewhere else."

"Don't move!" Zil had gotten back up, gun pointed at Toph.

"What're you going to do?" Toph laughed. "Throw the stick at me?"

"She doesn't know what a gun is?" Edilio asked. "Dude, she's dead, what're we gonna do?"

"Nothing." Sam decided. "Not yet."

Zill didn't know who this kid thought she was. She was tiny, barefoot, and didn't look at all threatening, but had she been the moof who's moved the earth? "I'll shoot you, that's what I'll do!" Zil shot, and the bullet, which Toph didn't see coming, grazed her shoulder. She put her hand where he'd hit, feeling blood. What was that? An arrow, but not an arrow? No time to think about it, she heard the stick explode again. She raised her hands and coated herself with the earth.

"Did she just turn herself into Orc?" Sam asked, blinking. Nothing surprised him much in the FAYZ, but this was a serious freak.

Zil continued to shoot as Toph, but this girl-turned-Orc didn't seem bothered now. She hadn't even left room for her eyes. Did she know where she was going or was she just guessing? No, no, she knew, she headed for Jill. "Kill the siren!" Zil called back to Lance, who advanced with a baseball bat. He was going to make a show of this.

"Oh no you don't!" Toph had let the earth drop from her, and this time sent a horizontal avalanche of sorts at Lance. He was thrown backwards, and didn't get up. Taylor bounced back in and resumed untying Jill as Toph fell back into old habit. These kids were by no means skilled firebenders, or, for that matter, that accurate with their sticks.

"I don't know about you guys, but I suggest we get down there." Dekka took a step forwards. "Before she kills anyone, and before kids get shot." Amazingly, the bullets had yet to hurt ayone, barring the glancing shot at Toph's shoulder.

"I second that." Edilio agreed. "Anyhow, if she got into the FAYZ, we need to speak with her." Sam didn't say anything, just nodded and dashed down the hill. Instead of toasting anyone, he just fired at the ground near their feet; the Human Crew had already deemed it not worth all this trouble to get Dekka, not with the new freak in town. Once they'd scattered, Sam watched as the new girl raised her hands to air, shouting.

"THE BLIND BANDIT STRIKES AGAIN!" She called, as her hair felled from her eyes. They were light green – far too light. He'd seen a picture of cataracts once, but it wasn't quite the same as this. It was pretty clear her eyes were dead, though. She turned back to him and grinned. "I'm the most powerful earthbender alive, possibly ever, why so shocked?"

"How many bars are you?" Sam asked.

"Bars? We don't go by bars, whatever you mean by that, at home. You're either an earthbender, or not. Or a firebender, or not. Or a waterbender, or not. Or an airbender, but there's only one of those left, and Aang's the Avatar, anyways, so he could have airbended regardless."

"So…that's common where you're from? To just…do that?" Edilio asked.

"Well…yeah." Toph blinked her unseeing eyes. "But no one can teleport or hover things without wind, and I'm not sure what sort of firebending that guy," She pointed to Sam, "was up to."

"But how do you see?" Dekka wasn't so believing of the 'blind bandit' idea.

"My feet." Toph replied nonchalantly. "The vibrations from the earth. That's how I can tell if someone's lying, too, provided they aren't total sociopaths."

"We only have one of those around here, and he's fused with a dead girl." Sam sighed. "Maybe two, but I hope he's starved to death. Come on." He motioned for Toph, Dekka and Edilio to follow him. On the way to Astrid's house, those from the FAYZ explained what life was like in Perdido Beach, and Toph explained life 'back home', from a massive war and genocide to a guy who could blow things up with his mind, the, probably the closest thing besides healing that was a "freak" talent, rather than one from Toph's universe, which she admittedly didn't know the name of. They reached Astrid, who was trying to talk to Little Pete, and recapped.

"So, I wanna go home some year," Toph added at the end of the comparisons and explanations. "Think Little Pete can put me back?"

"If he wants to, he can. But he might have summoned you here for a reason, or he might have done it by accident, so you might be stuck." Astrid admitted, playing with a strand of her hair. Her words made Toph say something so bad Astrid was for once glad Little Pete was in his own world, and probably hadn't processed what she'd said. "I'm sorry, Toph. We're stuck in the FAYZ, too."

"But you're in your own universe, at least!" Toph retorted. "Let's say I'm stuck here even after the FAYZ wall goes down; then what do I do? I sure can't make a living earthbending, now can I?"

"We'll deal with that when we come to it." Astrid replied. "I'll try my best to talk to Little Pete, I promise." Toph backed off a little, not sensing lies.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ahhhhhhhhhhhhh ahhhhhh!" Little Pete began to scream and flail.

"Oh no." They could all guess what might be happening.

"Who do you think, Toph?" Sam asked, vacating the room with Dekka and Edilio. None of them would be any good calming little Pete, which Astrid was frantically trying to do. "Anyone you think might be likey to poof in?"

"Aang? Maybe he's going to put me back?" She didn't sound that hopeful. "It can't be Zuko, Mai or Sokka, Suki's too old, too…so it's got to be Aang, Katara, Ty Lee…Azula...it could be anyone!" The screaming stopped, and Toph was still present. Somewhere else, a blue light flashed.


	3. The Pink Bathing Suit

Chapter three…who poofed into the FAYZ this time? I guarantee you, this chapter has some foreshadowing. Look for it if you dare.

* * *

"I…don't….understand! " Poor Sokka had been in a state of turmoil ever since Toph had poofed from under him. That's what they all called it, Toph's poof. The trouble was, she didn't…re-poof. First, they waited. Then, hours passed. Three hours, and everyone was looking for Toph, who had just poofed.

"So tell me this again…" Katara wandered through a stretch of woodland near the Fire Nation capital. "You jumped up behind her, and she just…vanished? No earthbending, no giggle, no cursing you…nothing?"

"Nothing!" Sokka was on the verge of tears. "Nothing. I was behind her but it didn't look like she…not like she even meant for it to happen." Behind them, Aang dropped from the sky, landing and closing his new glider.

"I can't see her. She can't have gone too far, not in three hours." Aang replied. "But I did see something weird in the sky."

"Now isn't the time for STARGAZING! IT'S THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY!" Sokka yelped.

"Maybe it's important." Katara would hear Aang out.

"It was like…a blue comet, but it was going up. Bright blue, and then it vanished, about ten minutes ago." The avatar said, just as confused as the rest of them.

"That's nice, but in case you've forgotten, Toph can't fly." Sokka waved his hands for emphasis.

"Well, duh." Katara was not pleased with Sokka's spasming.

"I guess we have to wait for a while." Aang didn't like it. "I don't see how she can just vanish like that. There's nothing we can do…I hate to say it, but if Toph just…ceased, we can't fix it. We have to wait, and go on."

"Aang…" Katara didn't like the idea either.

"There's nothing else we can do." Aang reopened his glider and took off to investigate the comet. It had taken flight over a small island, fortified by cliffs and treacherous rocks. He'd go look around there.

* * *

It was all the fault of the figure who walked. Everything. Good and bad, bad and good. Betrayal had come with redemption, but it had costs. Everything had costs. And now here the figure was. In the dark. Oh poo. She always got a bit sentimental when she same here. Had some come to redeem herself or betray everyone else? She didn't like it. She wasn't used to such strife. Maybe she should go home. She wouldn't be welcome, anyways…

And then blue. It lasted a millisecond that took forever. She could see the world give way and suddenly she was uncased in blue, no, she was the blue. She wasn't sure if she was dead or not, but she wasn't in pain. It stopped as suddenly as it started and she could breathe again, draw a breath of air more putrid than it had been a moment ago. She was in even more stifling dark, and she knew she was not alone, she could sense it before someone spoke.

"Kill me. Please, kill me, Angel of God." The voice croaked, desperate for the teenager who came from blue light to do so.

* * *

"Hey, Howard." The Breeze did not normally run around this part of town, let alone where Orc lived, keeping watch on the Drake-Brittney issue. There was no real way to describe the…issue other than an issue, and right now, drake and Caine and the Human Crew were becoming the least of their worries. Maybe even the Gaiaphage was an issue that paled in comparison. Unless people getting in meant the wall was breaking down, which was a very good thing, unless world war three had happened and it was better in the FAYZ than out of it. Yeah, hah.

"What're you doing here?" Howard came out to the porch on what remained of the house.

"Message from Sam. You know that kid that demolished the Human Crew, poofed in the FAYZ?" Brianna asked but assumed he knew. In a matter of hours, everyone had known. "Well, someone else from her side of the universe has just poofed in, and the hunt is on. Anyone you seen that was new?" She and Taylor had been moving around, asking everyone. She doubted Howard or Orc had any leads.

Well, she doubted, and she was right. They didn't. Not a clue. Orc just kept saying he needed to pee. "Then pee, if that's all you care about!" Brianna said, turning on heel. "Keep a look out, this kid could be anyone, and Sam wants to meet them."

"Will do." Howard said, as Brianna ran off again. One blink and she was gone. A moment later, Orc was opening the basement to pee.

In the basement, Brittney still had control. She was still begging to be killed. The newcomer found it very disconcerting, so when a shaft of light appeared before her she took her chance. She leapt and ran and was out before anyone got a chance to blink, but then she saw who, who being loosely used, since she felt it was more of a 'what' had opened the door. She stepped back, and screamed. She wasn't anywhere she ought to be. What kind of earthbender was he? She spun around to see a boy coming into the house, (it was a strange house, she noted), looking confused.

"Bri-" Howard stopped when he realized the girl wasn't Brianna. Her hair wasn't red, she was around fourteen and in a two-piece pink set of clothes that the Breeze hadn't been wearing. "What the, you!" Was this one of the people who got in the FAYZ. "Stop! Don't move!" He grabbed the nearest weapon, a baseball bat. All Ty Lee knew was that she was about to be attacked. She moved faster than Howard could, and struck him once. He crumpled, and Orc shouted. He was too slow, too, and Ty Lee was out of there, while Howard howled about being unable to move. Orc first locked the Brittney-Drake back away, and then took off after the girl.

Ty Lee didn't know what to think. All she'd meant to do was visit Azula, and now she was in some gritty, run down place that wasn't like her world. She'd just poofed! She kept running away from the boy-rock, around kids, all of them her age or younger, all of them armed and in strange clothes. She had no idea what this place was. Maybe the blue light was fire; maybe Azula had gotten out by some miracle and killed her, and this was some spirit-world. She didn't know, but she was glad she hadn't gone in Kyoshi uniform!

"STOP HER, STOP HER NOW!" Orc's shouting brought everyone out and about, to see the girl who ran away. One of Edilio's soldiers tried to tackle her. He was flung aside as Ty Lee decided she'd need to see what was around her. She ran for the nearest pole, which looked for of like the kind lanterns would be strung from, and was up it in a moment, perched on the top. Rock-kid came running. He bellowed and the pole shook beneath her. So much for seeing anything, other than a burned out village of kids. She jumped, rolled through a landing and was off again.

* * *

"I hate to make a bad situation worse," It was Ellen who found Sam, "But Orc's trying to kill some girl in a bathing suit."

"What the hell?" Sam and Edilio asked in unison. They were sitting in the living room, waiting for Brianna and Taylor to return from their small-scale scouting. Astrid was trying to console Little Pete, while Dekka and Toph sat just outside, trading stories about fights.

"Yeah, that's what I said. But next thing I see is some girl in a pink bathing suit or some two-piece clothes running from Orc, faster than anyone I seen, except Brianna. And then, the weird thing is she climbed a light post, no problem! Orc took it down and she landed like the fall was nothing, then kept on running." Sam frowned, and went out onto the porch. Edilio and Ellen followed.

"Toph, anyone in your world run around in pink bathing suits and climb lightpoles?"

"Dunno what pink is, but there's plenty of acrobats back home." Toph was picking at a toenail.

"She was about fourteen, brown hair in a long braid, big brown eyes. Looked a bit like Taylor, but not quite. Paler, a bit."

"That might be Ty Lee." Toph mused. "There's only one problem, and you're not gonna like it. She's one of six identical sisters, and I have no bloody idea who the other sisters are."

"Oh, great!" Edilio's words dripped with sarcasm.

"On the plus side, she can't bend, and she's on our side. But she can paralyze people –temporarily - and stop their bending." Toph finished with the toenail and got up. "C'mon, let's go find her. Dekka, you can probably levitate her if she panics." Dekka nodded, and took off after the blind girl

"They're gonna be one dangerous fighting duo." Edilio commented. "I don't doubt it."

They found Ty Lee leaping circles around, over and once right between Orc's massive legs. She'd given up on running when she didn't know where she could run to, so she was now just in the business of pissing him off. When she saw Toph, though, she dashed forwards and grabbed the smaller girl in a hug.

"TOPH! Where am I? Where are you? Are we dead?" She asked, but Toph shoved her out of the way as Orc advanced, out for the kill. Anyone that came out of Drake's pen, from nowhere, was probably no good. He found he couldn't move a second later.

"Wow, that is cool." Toph grinned, as she got Orc to turn around, then wave his arms. "But kinda freaky…"

"Toph, let him go." Dekka looked back, seeing Sam catch up. "She's the girl." Toph reluctantly let Orc have control of his limbs back.

"Orc, it's fine." Sam immediately went to damage-control. "She's like Toph. Poofed into the FAYZ." Kids began to whisper. It had been confirmed, Sam confirmed it. Two people were in the FAYZ, that weren't there all along.

"Why can't we leave then?" Some kid shouted.

"We don't know how! There's some freak of nature going around – they're not even from the same universe!" Sam was going to lay it all out this time. "Where they come from, freak powers like Toph's are normal and accepted and people climb lightpoles all the time!" Ty Lee decided this was not the time to ask what a lightpole was. "If you poof there, you're out of the FAYZ but then what? We don't know why they're here. But they're here, you got that? No one should step out. Stepping out causes up all difficultly – think of Mary -, could you live with that? Could you live with leaving everyone that needs you behind on a hope that might not be true?"

"Stick with what you know. Now, go back to your business. We'll tell you more as we know it." Dekka added, waving them away. Once the crowd dispersed, Ty Lee introduced herself, and round two of explanations began. Unfortunately, nothing stands still in the FAYZ…

* * *

Lana had up and left. Where to, she didn't quite know. Hunter found her, and he make a point of helping her. The Healer. Healer this, Healer that. Hell, not even the Human Crew bothered Healer. Only one thing bothered Healer, and that was the Gaiaphage. It was in her mind, in her dreams, tainting her, eating her away. Twice today, she'd felt a surge of pain. Like the Gaiaphage was mad, and twice today, she'd thrown it away as best she could. She just wanted to be alone! She'd found herself a little farmhouse, not so far from the town that if something major happened she wouldn't know about it, but far enough that people would assume she'd vanish. Maybe she'd step out, when she turned fifteen.

And then it grabbed her. She had to go see Orc. No, no she didn't! It was imaginary, she did not have to see Orc, she did not have to get drake out!

"Yes you do." The voice in Lana's head told her. "Do it. Do it…doitdoitdoit…" It turned into an endless rhythm, muddle words they weren't 'do it' anymore, but a chant, a foreign language she both wanted and despised.

Lana Lazar twitched where she sat in the farmhouse, and passed out. Doitdoitdoitdoitdoit…


	4. The Monk on the Island

Here is chapter 4. I was delayed due to final exams. =P I had five in a row (not the same day of course, but it was still grueling) and it just about killed me. So…let's get back to the FAYZ, shall we?

* * *

The kid had come on a rush of blue light, right in front of her and her…boyfriend. He was like no kid she'd seen before, mediating – did he even know what was going on? – with a shaven head and tattoos, to boot. Diana and Caine exchanged a glance.

"Who are you?" Diana spoke up before Caine did. The boy opens his eyes, took one look at the two in front of him and shouted, standing up looking around frantically. Caine lifted him, and far from freaking him out, he seemed to relax.

"Are you an Airbender?" He asked, big, round eyes in some awe. "No, you're not moving. You're no Airbender."

"What is an Airbender?" Recognizing no direct threat with this kid, who seemed some sort of monk, he dropped him back down.

"You know, someone who can use the air, as opposed to firebending, or waterbendering, or earthbending…" Aang didn't know what to say. He'd never had to explain bending before. "Wait! DID I POOF?"

"You came out of nowhere." Diana walked forwards and took his hand before he could do anything. "Nothing, Caine. Weird buzz feeling, but no bars." She wasn't lying, either. The kid had some power, but it was no in the form of bars. It was in some form she couldn't get a handle on.

"What was that?" Aang took his hand away. "Where am I? Where's Toph and Ty Lee?"

"Not here." Caine decided to hold onto this disoriented kid. "We're stuck on an Island. I'm Caine Soren. This is Diana. There are two other kids here, too. A girl named Penny and a boy we like to call Bug."

"I once knew a girl called Smellerbee!" Aang said. Diana noted the trust in his voice; poor kid. "Everyone thought she was a boy. I'm Aang, the Avatar."

"The Avatar?" Caine asked the boy, Aang, curiously. "What have they done in Perdido?"

"What's Perdido?" The monk-esque boy replied.

"You don't know about the FAYZ?" Diana asked.

"What's that?" Was the response she earned.

"You poofed in." Caine saw a good opportunity. "Tell me; you don't seem scared of my power. Is it common from wherever you are?"

"Well, no." Aang admitted. "We only have four types of bending. Well, not quite. Katara's a waterbender, but she can also bend blood. Sandbenders are a type of earthbender, some firebenders can control lighting, and Toph – my mentor in earthbending – can bend metal. I'll show you!" He said cheerfully, before creating and air scooter and whizzing circles around Caine. He put Diana on a foot high pedestal of rock, conjured fire from his hands and then bended some water from the fish pond the Coates couple had been sitting beside. "I'm the Avatar, so I can bend all four elements."

"Amazing…and yet you don't have bars, but buzz." Caine knew this kid could be exceptionally dangerous…but maybe…maybe he would fall for everything Caine said. "It's a pity you're on this island of exile."

"Exile?" Aang looked alarmed. "Are you criminals?"

"No, no, nothing like that. Well, THEY would like you to think so, but you see, we're the resistance…" Caine began to lie shamelessly, but Diana couldn't bring herself to interrupt. The boy would die if she did. Instead, she convinced herself it was a white lie, a white lie for this boy's life.

And the boy bought the lies.

* * *

This was very, very bad. Zuko swore his hair was going to go grey. Toph's vanishing sent rumors abound. Ty Lee was supposed to have been murdered by his suicidal sister, which wasn't true, but how did anyone explain the Avatar's second grand poof? This had worried every leader, and none more than him. He needed Avatar support to win over the Fire Nation and the world. Now Aang was gone.

"Zuko…" Mai rested a hand on his shoulder. "I don't know what to say to you, but you're making even me gloomy. Go talk to Katara and Sokka, maybe…Suki's come, everyone's come to help you out. At least speak with them."

"What am I supposed to say, Mai?" His words were unintentionally harsh. "What am I supposed to tell them! The Avatar goes missing on palace grounds; they're going to think I killed him!"

"They don't. That kid, Sokka; he normally makes no sense, but he says they 'poofed'. You know, how he keeps saying Toph went out of thin air. Talk to them." Mai urged, and finally the Fire Lord stood up.

"Fine. But it won't make a difference."

But that was where Zuko was wrong. He joined all of Aang's friends in the Throne room. He avoided his throne, and walked over to join them. They began to discuss what could have happened, and any similarities. Toph and Ty Lee had disappeared within three hours, but Aang had disappeared a week after them both. They did not notice anything unusual; not even a door opening and a boy slipping inside. In fact, it was only when all of them reached their wits end when they noticed the boy on Zuko's throne.

"Is it a spirit?" Suki was the one who broke the silence. "I've never seen anyone with yellow hair."

Little Pete looked up, and smiled cryptically. "Spirit World." He told the group, who all stared in silence.

"Whoa, wait, what?" Sokka scratched his head. "Who let the kid in here? Obviously his head just been in a vat of dye, that's all!"

"Spirit World." Little Pete repeated. They would not understand what he would mean by the Gaianphage's world, or the war. But he knew they would understand that; and that would set them at ease. "Mission."

"They're on a mission in the spirit world?" Katara asked, afraid to approach the child, who seemed so distant in every way. "Aang, Toph and Ty Lee?"

"Summoned. Spirit World." Little Pete repeated, looking for the words. Astrid had taught him so many words, but they were so far away! He had to grab them from so far away and use them… "Summoned to save. Save children. Save all." He told them. "Save Astrid."

"Who's Astrid?" Katara asked, biting her lip. "Tell us, please…" She let out a yelp as the boy vanished into blue light.

"Someone's spiked our food with cactus juice." Sokka decreed.

"But it's our only excuse. A spirit came to us and told us they were on a mission in the Spirit World. I don't know if it's true or not, but we're going to have to believe it."

And, well, it was something like that…


	5. Break the Chains

Chapter Five. And yes, Little Pete talks a LOT more in the Avatarverse…it was pretty necessary, though. He goes back to his quiet self now. : D

* * *

It was strange. Something was in her head. Something unreal. No one had powers over anyone's minds, not that she knew of. But it was in her mind. No one was around, either. It might have been pitch black, but that didn't stop Toph from patrolling. Light was irrelevant. She couldn't sleep. The Human Crew needed to be watched. She'd do that. But there was something watching her.

_Break the chains._ The voice was in her head. She knew it, too. _Break the chains. _

"No." She spoke out loud, walking back towards Dekka's place, where she was staying with the mentioned and Ty Lee. "Besides, I don't know what chains." She told herself. She meant to take a step, and suddenly, she stumbled. That was wrong. Toph almost never stumbled. Not on solid ground! It was like her feet didn't want her to go to what she tentatively called home.

_Break the chains. _The words came back again. _Break the chains. I will show you where. Free them. Only you can. _

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Toph clamped her hands over her ears, eyes screwed shut as she stumble-walked. "I can't hear you, I can't see you, I'm going h-home!" But it was hard. So hard to do. She got to the walkway and her legs gave out. She thudded to her knees on the driveway then onto her side, messing up her already messy overalls and shirt. "TY LEE! DEKKA! HELP!" She managed to scream, before twitching suddenly. She got back to her knees, then her feet, and turned around, resisting every step.

Ty Lee was a light sleeper. One had to be, while on the road with Azula. She heard Toph scream. She'd never heard the tough little girl scream, and then it sounded like she had been 'loosed out of hell' ((Tell me where that came from! I dare you!)). Panic, terror. She sat bolt upright, and looked around in the darkness. "DEKKA!" She shouted. "SOMETHING'S WRONG!"

"Shut up, I'm awake." Dekka's voice came from somewhere near the doorway to Ty Lee's room. "I know. Toph screamed. I think it came from outside."

"I never heard her scream." Ty Lee moved to the doorway. "But how are we going to see her?"

"Sammy Sun in a jar." Dekka kept one other than the one in her living room. "C'mon." She worked her way to the cupboard where she kept the jar, and pulled it out. Light. Good. "Let's go."

"Right beside you." Ty Lee whispered, as they jogged outside in their pajamas (or in Ty Lee's case, just underwear). "There!" She pointed down the street, where Toph was stumbling along. "Is something wrong with her feet?" She was walking like she was, well, blind.

"Toph!" Dekka called, not caring if people woke up. "Toph, where are you going?" No response. The duo ran towards her. She seemed to hear the footsteps and turned back.

"Chains." She said in a voice not quite her own. "I need to break them."

"What chains? Hey!" Ty Lee watched as Toph turned back and shuffled onwards, every so often covering her ears with her hands. "What's going on?" Her large eyes seemed even larger by the light of the Sammy Sun.

"I don't know…wait." Dekka stepped back, "She might be possessed. The Gaiaphage. Did you look at her eyes? The green has changed." She got her resolve and took off, grabbing Toph by the shoulder. "Hey! Snap out of it!" Suddenly, she was flying through the air. She crashed into her back and the light slipped from her fingers. She looked up over her toes and saw a spike of ground where she had been standing. "Toph! It's me! Dekka!" She saw the lithe, shadowed form of Ty Lee lunge forward, repulsed in a similar manner. Then, again, this time, even more scared.

"HELP ME! PLEASE! IT'S GO-" Toph's scream was cut off by the Gaiaphage, who shut down her vocal chords. It needed her. She could control Orc, and break chains. The boy had meant her to do other things, but now she was his for the taking. He couldn't bring people…but oh, he could use them.

People had, by now, woken up and begun to panic. Dekka got back to her feet and did as much damage control as she could (which mainly involved keeping a distance form Toph and convincing them not to shoot her) while Ty Lee kept on trying to paralyze her. Unfortunately, Toph kept throwing her back with earthbending through a will that was not her own. Dekka couldn't even get in range of Toph!

"What's going on?" Sam came running, a sleepy Astrid following.

"The Gaiaphage has got her, I think." Dekka watched Ty Lee get thrown back again. "None of us can get close. She's too powerful, and judging by the fact none of us are dead, she's managing to hold the Darkness back somewhat."

"I could…" Sam let the sentence hang. They knew she was in his range.

"Don't." Astrid bit her lip. "It doesn't seem wise."

"She was talking about chains." Dekka added, following Toph. Ty Lee scaled a light pole, possibly in an attempt to then drop onto the other girl, but Toph leveled the light pole.

"Chains?" Astrid looked up at a street sign. It was more of the thought process than actually figuring out where she was. "This is the way to Orc's place."

"Shit!" Sam swore, disregarding the two seven-year-olds they passed. "She mentioned she could, what was it…metalbend! She's going to break the chains! We have to put a stop to this." He raised his hands, but then the wind was knocked out of him. Toph's senses combined with the Gaiaphage's awareness meant that she'd attacked first.

"HELP!" Toph screamed again, as the Gaiaphage made her run. She forced herself to fall, again and again – but she'd made it far enough.

* * *

"So, Aang, tell me." Caine looked at the boy from across the dining room table. "Could you, in theory, bend the air from someone's lungs?"

"Uh…maybe. I don't want to try anything like that, anyways, so I never bothered to think about it." Aang answered slowly. "But I guess if Katara can bloodbend, I could bend air from someone…"

"Bloodbending. Interesting." Caine sounded like some sort of mock school principal.

"Why do you ask?" Aang replied slowly.

"I'm just curious, that's all." Caine said with a smile. "It's fascinating. Our world would be so different, if it was like yours."

"Well, yeah." Aang blinked. "It would be our world if it was our world."

"Mhmmmm." Caine nodded. "I love it. So tell me more, Avatar Aang. There's not a lot else to do in exile."

"Why don't you get off the island, then? Zuko – he's the Fire Lord now – he was in exile but he kept going. Actually, he was banished, but still. It's not too much of a difference." Aang shrugged.

"Because there's four of us. Five now, counting you. We'd be killed. I've told you about guns, Aang. No powers…well, maybe Bug's could slip past a machine gun." Caine said smoothly. "But maybe someday we'll find a way off."

"The trouble is that I can't bend enough water." Aang found something bad about Caine, so he lied quickly. For some reason, he figured Caine should stay in exile for a little longer. "Otherwise I'd be able to part the sea. I'd need a waterbender to help me."

"Could I?" Caine was suddenly interested. He could probably move some water with his power, after all.

"I don't think so. But we can try." Aang lied. They went down to the water, and there Caine managed to move some if it with his scary mental powers. Aang purposely foiled his own waterbending. They knew nothing of it; so Caine accepted it.

"So close." Caine sighed. He wasn't sure if he should keep the boy any longer. "It was worth a try, hey, buddy?"

"Yeah, well, it was." Aang nodded. "Do you have more of that ice cream stuff?"

"Sure, man." Caine grinned. "Let's go have some ice cream." Diana watched from behind a tree, hoping Caine wouldn't lace the ice cream with rat poison.

* * *

"This isn't good. At all." Sam announced. Everyone was gathered in Astrid's house again. Toph was laying on a sofa, unconscious. After the Gaiaphage had used to earthbend Orc into knocking out Howard, and metalbend Drake out, she'd promptly passed out. In her defense, she hadn't killed anyone, and Drake was still carrying more of his chains. He'd escaped in the chaos, but he'd have a hundred pounds to drag around near-constantly, unless he figured out how to get out of them. "Any suggestions?"

"Drake will need time to recoup. Brittney won't help him, either." Astrid sighed, petting Little Pete's hiar down. The boy had gone and joined the group, sitting quietly and watching Toph. "The question is what do we do with her?" She looked over at the sleeping girl.

"We leave her alone." Edilio suggested. "First, there's Ty Lee to deal with. I mean, she went to go get clothes so we could decide right now, but she can paralyze us. And Lana was possessed once, wasn't she? We left her alone, let life go on."

"Yeah, but Lana couldn't cause an earthquake." It was Albert who spoke up.

"I say we leave her be. There's no way to restrain her, anyhow." John Terrafino added. He'd been woken by the noise in one of his few rest breaks from the daycare. "Unless we build a wood box, but then knowing Zil he'd find it and set it on fire." No one liked the image that produced.

"But if the Darkness gets her again…" Albert frowned. "She'd be dangerous."

"She resisted once, she might build immunity?" Astrid suggested weakly. Little Pete listened to the conversation distractedly. So his opponent was stealing his pieces again! Well, he'd just have to make some more. Hopefully he'd also get lucky, and have them end up where they were supposed to be, unlike last time.

"Ahhhhhhhh! Ahhhhhhhh ahhhhhh ahhhhhh!" Little Pete hollered. Toph mumbled in her sleep, half-roused by Little Pete but still too drained to do anything. "Ahhhhhhhh!" Sam winced, and everyone did the same in a chain reaction as Little Pete screamed.

Somewhere else, a blue light flashed. Little Pete could only hope this time it was nearer to home.


	6. Diana's New Friend

Welcome to chapter 6. : D I don't have much to say, other than thanks for the comment. I always thought it would be an interesting 'dark' aspect of airbending, to be able to suffocate or put someone in a vacuum…

* * *

Drake was loose. Brittney was, too, but she knew better than to go back to town. Maybe she was scared of what Drake would do to those in town. Maybe she wanted Drake to get as far away as possible form it; he didn't know. All he knew was that he was leaving. He didn't know where to. Maybe the power plant. Yes, that was near enough for him to plan out his attack. He could kill animals with his whip hand; but then again, he didn't need to eat. He was fused with an undead girl. He needed no sustenance. He needed nothing but revenge. He wanted to make all of them suffer, because it was fun, because he wanted them to. He'd love to watch them squirm under his grasp, unable to do anything about it…

Brittney wanted to drag Drake as far away from Perdido as she could. If she could drag him clear across the FAYZ, it would take him ages to get back, since every time she got control she'd walk that direction. They wouldn't kill her, so she'd have to live a life alone. She'd have to protect everyone from Drake. That was what she was sent by God to do, and she would do it. She could only hope the freak that broke the chains was going to be okay.

* * *

Diana had went for a long walk along the beach, away from Caine and Aang feasting on ice cream. And Penny. The girl had joined in, too, being all welcoming to Aang. All of them were being so. Penny didn't expose her power, but Bug did, fascinating Aang. They'd play hide and seek four hours and hours. She knew she seemed the most unfriendly of the bunch, speaking only when spoken to, but Aang was too trusting of Caine. Try to explain he was bad, and she'd be in big, big trouble. The kid was massively powerful but he couldn't shift water. He could shift air, but couldn't fly. He could shift the ground but not enough to make a tunnel, and his tricks with fire were useless. He'd be handy in an attack, and ate up everything the sociopath had to say. That was the only reason Caine let him be .

That and she was unsure if he had any cement to mix around here.

It was down by one of the rockier areas that Diana heard the water moving, and then saw it. A darker skinned girl was shifting water back and forth, looking lost in thought and very distressed. She wore strange blue clothes, and had strands of hair in loops. "Did you poof in here?" Diana asked very quietly. The girl looked up, startled, and Diana found herself up to her neck in ice. "I won't hurt you, please, listen to me." Diana made no attempt to free herself. It would be impossible.

"Is this the spirit world?" The girl asked. Diana shook her head.

"This is a place called the FAYZ. Everyone over fifteen is gone, and all us kids are trapped in here, and people want to kill us and this monster wants to kill us…"

"It's like what that little boy said…" Katara looked up, and moved her hands. The ice melted, leaving Diana soaked but okay.

"What little boy?" Diana asked.

"This little boy, he had yellow hair, and he just poofed right into the Fire Lord's throne room…he told us everyone who had vanished was on a mission somewhere." Katara explained.

"Little Pete. It has to be." Diana shrugged. "It doesn't matter, listen to me. You're trapped on an island, so am I and four others. But you can't be seen. Anyone else but me will turn you into Caine, and I can't let Caine off this island, or he'll do terrible things to the kids on the mainland. No matter what you see happen, stay hidden. You can move water, he'll want to part the ocean with the other kid." Desperation was in Diana's voice.

"Other ki- AANG? Aang's here?" The girl sputtered.

"Yeah. He believes everything Caine says about him being an exiled hero. I can't say it's not true of Caine will kill him, and trust me, Caine can. Bug and Penny, the two other kids, have powers, too. Bug can blend in with anything, so make sure you're not being watched if you leave this cove." Diana whispered. "Please believe me. Please!"

"I don't know what to believe. But for now I'll believe you. My name's Katara." Katara bit her lip.

"Diana." Diana said with a small smile. "Don't worry. I'll bring you food and news of what's going on. Eventually we'll get out of here. You're the only one who can." Katara nodded. This girl seemed so distressed, it would be hard not to believe her. And she could always escape if she needed to, freeze the surface and run on it.

"Which was is the mainland, Diana?" She asked. Diana pointed. "I'll only leave if I'm threatened. And even then, I'll try and get you and Aang, okay? Is there anyone else who 'poofed in' that you know about?"

"No. They probably ended up on the mainland." Diana said. "They're probably with Sam and his crew. They run the village. They managed to drive Caine out of power. They're good."

"So if we do leave, we go to them?"

"I can't." Diana bit her lip. "I'm their enemy."

"But if you're an enemy of Caine, and they're an enemy of Caine…"

"You don't understand. The ones on the island are the only ones left alive that cast their lot in with Caine. I'm irredeemable in their eyes."

"We had a guy trying to kill us for months and then he came onto our side once. No one's truly irredeemable." Katara said gently.

"I am. I'm his girlfriend. And even I'm scared of him. If I leave him, he'll go completely insane." Diana said quickly. "I better go back. I'll bring you some food the next chance I get, even if I just drop it from up there." She pointed to the top of the cliffs. She left the stunned Katara, wanting to be back and in dry clothes before she garnered too many suspicions.

Katara didn't know what to think as she sat down in the sand of the cove, making little tendrils of water rise from the ocean. Should she really sit here and wait? That Diana girl seemed to be a good girl in a bad spot. Almost like Ty Lee had been, when she worked with Azula. And then there was Aang…if everyone on the island had powers, he might be in trouble. Powers did not seem to be bending, from the impression she got. And who knew if he could go into the Avatar State here?

Katara forced herself to be still for a day and a half. Twice Diana dropped food from above, and twice more she had nothing, but came to look down at Katara, who always smiled up and waved. But the arrangement would not work for long.

* * *

"I want you to figure out where she's been going." Caine instructed Bug. "Don't just follow her too, figure out why. Then tell me." Bug set off from the main study of the mansion with that words echoing in his head, as he blended into walls and then trees as Diana walked outside. She seemed to be looking around, as though worried about seeing him. He took extra precaution as a result. She had a small bag with her, which quite probably had food in it. Why would she be going anywhere with a bag of food? Why had she been steering clear of Caine? Was there something going on that Caine didn't know? He must think so, or Bug would not be forced into this.

He crept behind her as she came to some cliffs quite far from the manor, and then began to work her way down on an unforgiving slope, a tiny path to an equally tiny cove. Bug followed at a great distance, terrified of falling. He was out of earshot when he saw the girl, who took the food Diana brought. She was in funny clothes, and had raised water. That was all he needed to know. He bolted back up as fast as he dared, and ran back to the manor, explaining it all. Caine grinned throughout the recounting.

"Well, Bug, I think you've done me a very, very good service." He said quietly. "I think you've done me such a good service that we will be able to leave and come back to the island at our own will…but don't speak of this to anyone yet. I need to think about how to harness this power…" And he already had ideas. Oh, how he had ideas! He'd never kill Diana, but he could abuse her, just a tiny bit…


End file.
